Nordea Investment Management AB Lowers Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Nordea Investment Management AB has significantly decreased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 67.0%, owning only 27,193 shares after selling 55,253 shares during the second quarter.
• W.R. Berkley reported a 10.8% year-over-year revenue increase, reaching $3.16 billion, and surpassed analyst EPS expectations, posting $1.10 per share.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.5%, with a dividend payout ratio of 7.56%.

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 67.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,193 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 55,253 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WRB. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 1.8% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,997 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 23,237 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,654,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 19.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,013 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.1%

WRB opened at $74.93 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $73.86 and its 200-day moving average is $71.96. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.97 and a 52-week high of $78.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $84.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.67.

W.R. Berkley Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.

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